De Sa not moving to Ajax... yet

Cape Town – Roger de Sa will not be joining Ajax Cape Town. At least not over the next few weeks.

De Sa quit as coach of Orlando Pirates on Friday and has been linked to fill the vacant Ajax coaching position after Muhsin Ertugral left the Cape side last month. Ertugral, in turn, has been linked to the Bucs job.

However, the Cape Times understands that Ajax’s interim coach Ian Taylor has been given the next three games to audition for the job.

Taylor lost his first game in charge 2-1 against De Sa’s Pirates last week. And over the next two weeks he faces three tough games against AmaZulu in Durban on Tuesday, Wits at Cape Town Stadium on Friday night and a massive clash against Mamelodi Sundowns away on February 15.

According to insiders at Ajax, De Sa “has put up his hand” to take over the Cape side’s hot seat. However, his appointment can only be sanctioned by the Urban Warriors’ majority shareholder Ajax Amsterdam, who have the last say when it comes to hiring coaches.

But Ajax’s minority shareholders have ignored the advice of their big brothers in the past, most notably appointing Ertugral with four games to go last season to save them from relegation.

So De Sa may still make his way back to the Mother City after coaching Santos between 2005 and 2007.

The only technical appointment Ajax did make over the weekend was roping in veteran coach Sergio dos Santos to be head of scouting. “We are thrilled to bring Sergio on board and back home,” Ajax’s executive director Ari Efstathiou said in a statement.

On the field, Ajax managed to sign Zimbawean striker Simba Sithole on a two-year contract from How Mine FC in his home country. Central midfielder Thamsanqa Sangweni also joined on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns until the end of the season.

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